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On the Green
Mentor Memories
by Helen Ross
J
ames Swafford made a beeline for his father, Hudson, who had just come from behind to win The American Express that Sunday afternoon in the California desert earlier this year. The adorable 3-year-old, wearing crisp white shorts and a long-sleeved striped T-shirt, ran as fast as those little legs would carry him to jump into his dad’s arms. He stayed close during the post-game festivities, and it was hard to figure out who was happier. “So special to win my 2nd @theamexgolf but nothing like having my son James watch me win in person for the first time,” Swafford tweeted. “Think I’ve found my good luck charm!” Only later would we realize the real symmetry of the moment. Swafford got emotional during the post-round interview when he revealed that his dad David, the man who had introduced him to the game both loved so much, had died a little over a month earlier. He would have turned 84 on Thursday when the first round of the American Express Championship was played. “He taught me everything I know,” Swafford said. “How to be a dad, how to be a friend, how to be a champion, and how to play golf.” David Swafford was the one who put a set of plastic clubs in Swafford’s hands when he was a year younger than his 54 ASOUTHERNSOPHISTICATION
grandson is now. By the end of the day, the toddler had hit those clubs so many times that the heads snapped off, and his dad knew they were onto something. “So, he ended up … cutting down little clubs and just letting me whack golf balls around in the yard and started taking me to our golf course and giving me all the pointers that he had and would read about or watch,” said Swafford who loved the times as a young boy that he got to play with his dad’s friends. “He kind of molded me and just kind of gave me all of his words of wisdom and taught me up until about 13, 14 and then turned it over to somebody else. But literally gave me every opportunity in the world to succeed and I mean, I can never thank him enough.” But the 34-year-old did manage to show his appreciation in a pretty terrific way in 2017 after he won his first PGA Tour event there in the same desert where he notched his third title earlier this year. Swafford still remembers the FaceTime calls with his family after that breakthrough win and the sheer elation of the day. Perhaps the best reward came later, though, when the Georgia grad was able to take his dad to play Augusta National before he played in his first Masters Tournament. “It was such a memorable day, just an incredible experience that I’ll always cherish,” Swafford said. “To give back to somebody that provided for me and paved the way
